BENNINGTON — After cutting its rejected budget by more than $575,000, the Bennington School Board approved on Wednesday a proposed budget of $12,940,745 to be put before voters on May 21.

Members of the Bennington School Board approved the budget proposal unanimously.

There will be an informational meeting about the budget on May 20 with the vote on the budget, to take place by Australian ballot, the next day. Voting will be at the Bennington fire facility, the same location as the vote in March.

During the Town Meeting Day vote, the Bennington School District budget, which was proposed at $13,518,802, was rejected by a vote of 1,095-915. While several school budgets around Vermont were defeated this year, Bennington was the only budget defeated in Bennington County.

The Mount Anthony Union School District, which runs the middle and high schools in Bennington, was also defeated in Bennington but received enough support in the other towns it covers, North Bennington, Pownal, Shaftsbury and Woodford, to be passed.

The March budget proposal was an increase of $2,158,689, or 19 percent, over the $11,360,113 budget passed in 2012.

The budget proposal approved last night will be an increase of $1,580,632, or almost 14 percent, over the current budget.

The school board has cut $578,057 from the budget proposal defeated in March to reach the new proposed budget.